Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006: consultation on proposed amendments

Footnotes

1 Section 136 (time limit for certain offences) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 provides that proceedings in respect of any offence triable only using summary procedure and consisting of the contravention of any enactment must be commenced within six months after the contravention occurred (or, in the case of a continuous contravention, within six months after the last date of such contravention) unless the enactment fixes a different time limit.

2 Section 44(1) of the Act extends the default statutory time limit of six months from the date of the offence by providing that an offence under section 23 may be brought within the period of six months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the prosecutor’s opinion to justify proceeding came to the knowledge of the prosecutor. Section 44(2) limits this period by providing that no proceedings may be brought more than three years after the commission of the offence (or three years after the last date on which the offence was committed in the case of continuous contravention).